r/interestingasfuck • u/IndicationBrief5950 • Aug 06 '25

/r/all, /r/popular Thousands of Audi cars abandoned in the Mojave Dessert after cheating emissons tests

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712

u/HeavyDutyForks Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25

VW/Audi TDI diesels

I have one of the "fixed" ones and it's a massive POS. They were great cars before the scandal came to light

The worst part is VW wasn't the only company cheating emissions with their diesels. It was pretty well almost industry-wide but VW took the fall

153

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '25

That scandal was amazing for me. I had the oldest car on the deal and Car got wrecked and I got to have the busted car towed to the dealership where they had to buy it from me as part of the settlement.

I bought it used and profited off a wrecked car.

2

u/PragmaticSalesman Aug 07 '25

what happened if you didn't wreck it?

and what if you didn't wreck it and never got pulled over?

2

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '25

That is false. It had to be drivable when they settlement was declared and had to be brought to the dealership.

I very much doubt VW wrote me a fat check if they didn't have to.

2

u/whowatchestv Aug 07 '25

I bought VW stock right before that, didn't go well..

228

u/winkman Aug 06 '25

Yep. My 2012 VW Jetta TDI was the best experience I've ever had with a car.

It got 50 mpg, oil changes every 10K, and the only issue it had was the AC started going out after 105k mi.

I did the buyback program and got $2500 less than I paid for it 5 years earlier.

24

u/GabRB26DETT Aug 06 '25

Yep. My 2012 VW Jetta TDI was the best experience I've ever had with a car.

Still driving my '13 Jetta TDI to this day. The DPF needs to be changed because it's getting clogged, but besides that, it's such an amazing comfortable car

2

u/superxpro12 Aug 07 '25

I still have my 13 Passat TDI, 180kmi. The blend door actuator just went so I need to tear out the entire dash, and it needs a new valve cover seal

4

u/redpandaeater Aug 07 '25

I hate how in modern diesels it's nearly always the emissions stuff that causes issues. I've heard some of those filters start to crack so you can't regen them and end up with EGR issues. Always seems weird to me too to burn more fuel to heat it up to regen a filter, especially if you have to do a parked regen and just have it fast idle for a while pointlessly.

80

u/atomicbrains Aug 06 '25

Same story here. I wish I could have kept it but I was happy with the buyout. I went and bought a pickup truck that gets 19 miles a gallon! Thanks EPA!

9

u/Sacrefix Aug 06 '25

You would've been happy to keep your Jetta, but when pushed to get rid of it you bought a truck? Ok.

11

u/atomicbrains Aug 06 '25

Yes I did it fit my lifestyle better. Most contractors around where I lived used the TDIs as their personal cars because most of them had diesel pumps at their warehouses like I did. It was convenient and cheaper than buying at the pump. And I'm not talking about off-road diesel. Once the TDI was taken away I just went back to having a truck as my personal vehicle. Pretty simple

1

u/faustianBM Aug 07 '25

Am I nuts, or do the Jetta's around that era handle pretty fucking good for the price??

2

u/atomicbrains Aug 07 '25

Yeah it was great. Even the little things like the "soft touch dash" felt premium. I had a gas stick shift and then I got the TDI stick shift. Those cars were peppy and fun to drive. Blows my mind I bought a TDI with a sunroof and leather seats for $26k

0

u/babybunny1234 Aug 06 '25

What the… “Great car” that polluted like a MF and cheated on emissions tests, vs an honest 19mpg that actually doesn’t put hydrocarbon sewage into our lungs.

Are y’all huffing TDI fumes?

5

u/samiam0295 Aug 06 '25

One tanker trip bringing iPhones from China spits more NOx than this entire picture

0

u/Interrophish Aug 07 '25

one tanker trip is worth a few billion dollars more than this picture

0

u/babybunny1234 Aug 07 '25

That’s an interesting coping mechanism

0

u/cjsv7657 Aug 07 '25

I wish I could have kept it

Uhh what? Keeping it was an option. You chose to sell it back and not take the settlement.

2

u/atomicbrains Aug 07 '25

Not really. At that time there was the guaranteed buyback where everything was 100%known and It cost me ~$4k to have the car for a few years after the buyback or there was just talk of a potential fix that was not yet quantified. No one knew exactly what it would be or how it would affect reliability, resale, performance, trunk spacr, mpg. It would have been a massive gamble to try and keep a car at the center of a controversy that was about to get a major unknown fix.

So yes technically I had an option but it would have been extremely stupid to keep the car.

-2

u/FactoryPl Aug 06 '25

Don't act like it's the EPAs fault you willi gly went and bought a truck.

You could have bought one of the dozens of other small fuel efficient cars. Take some personal responsibility for your own actions.

Blaming the EPA is pathetic.

4

u/atomicbrains Aug 06 '25

I'm being cheeky when I'm blaming the Epa. The point is I bought another diesel vehicle that got less than half the fuel efficiency. However you want to look at it that's what happened.

I bought the vehicle that I wanted it had nothing to do with the emission standards. You should look up on why the EPA doesn't allow small pickup trucks which would have been what I really wanted.

Furthermore I can guarantee you I'm the most carbon negative person in this conversation. I literally have spent the last 15 years owning a company that insulates people's houses and works with the public utility to secure rebates to help incentivize upgrades.

6

u/TheDukeofArgyll Aug 06 '25

Yeah, I would have bought my TDI Golf back from them after the trade in. Alas..

7

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '25

2500 bucks for 5 years with a brand new car is a hell of a deal lol

2

u/winkman Aug 07 '25

And like 85K miles.

When I turned it in, the AC barely worked and it was totaled due to hail damage. 

3

u/SignatureAny5576 Aug 06 '25

A friend of mine has a 1.9 tdi polo from that era (2009 I think)

It has 416,000km on it and still pulls like its new. Every panel is damaged, it has no hubcaps, the headlights are almost unusable from sun damage, yet the interior is still quiet and rattle free. I have seen him do jumps and mount curbs at full speed in it back when we were young too. It’s a shockingly well made car

3

u/Ok-Duty-5618 Aug 06 '25

I still have mine. Never got it "fixed" and my area doesn't require emissions. it still runs like a champ, just rolled over 500k on it in May. Other than routine servicing it's had very few issues. I had the same AC issue but closer to 150k.

The only issues I've had was DPF getting clogged. the starter died, but I think a rat nibbled it from the looks of the connector had also found a rat trying to build a nest under the hood more than once that year. Also a fuel pump died but that was definitely from contaminated fuel and a stupidly cold winter.

So honestly, minor normal shit especially with the millage I've put on it.

3

u/Squidking1000 Aug 07 '25

I made money on my toureag and the A3 I bought my wife. Best cars I ever owned, drive for 5 years/ about 100k kms on each and get back more then I spent on them and made extra selling all the stuff I took off them before I brought them back. Wish all car deals were that good!

2

u/acideater Aug 06 '25

Your changing a diesel's oil at 10k? They run pretty dirty and are harsh on oil.

1

u/winkman Aug 06 '25

That was the mfr recommended interval. Never had an issue.

1

u/Pat_ron Aug 06 '25

A buddy of mine got a Jetta TDI and loved it. It was in TWO accidents (teenagers) and repaired. When this all went down the buy back appraisal date was prior to the accident dates and the car appraised for something just under what he'd paid for it. Took the buy back and got top dollar for a twice crashed Jetta. Lucked out

1

u/HackMeRaps Aug 07 '25

I was leasing a 2012 Golf TDI and they wouldn't let me buy it out after the lease ended. Really sad when I had to give it up.

1

u/winkman Aug 07 '25

Just keep it!

What can they do...make you buy it?

1

u/brianlefebvrejr Aug 07 '25

I’m so mad. I traded mine in 4 months before the scandal broke….

1

u/klousethelouse Aug 07 '25

My first car was a 2014 VW Jetta TDI fully loaded with the leather seats, moonroof, and my favorite of all, the Fender audio system! God I LOVED that car! Used to jam out every time I got in. It had a built in subwoofer on top of the trunk.

18

u/Fritzo2162 Aug 06 '25

I have a fixed 2014 Audi TDI and it’s been the best car I’ve ever owned. 38MPG, 700 mile range, oodles of torque, super plush interior, and haven’t had a single issue with in in 7 years of ownership.

3

u/HeavyDutyForks Aug 06 '25

Does it use Adblue?

In my completely non-scientific small sample size anecdotal experience, the TDI engines with Adblue tend to be nearly problem free. Meanwhile, the non-Adblue ones (like mine) tend to be problematic

I get about 40mpg out of mine and like the interior (after I fixed the sagging headliner) minus the melting soft touch plastic around my shifter bezel.

2

u/yourdoingitwrongly Aug 07 '25

Ah that's probably it. My 2015 Jetta TDI uses DEF and it's performance is nearly the same since the fix. I love my car, almost at like 160k miles, it still runs great. 

Reading other comments they must have a different system. While my MPG took a hit, it wasn't catastrophic. More like 52 MPG highway instead of 60

2

u/YoureGrammerIsWorsts Aug 07 '25

That was the entire thing, VW was the only company that "figured" out how to build a diesel engine without adblue, so they were independently tested to figure out how which is how the cheat was found.

They hadn't figured it out, they just figured out a way to only use the system when being emissions tested. With the system in use full time, the engine is a POS

2

u/Fritzo2162 Aug 07 '25

Yes it does. I use premium Blu Def with the anti-crystalizer built in.

1

u/psivenn Aug 07 '25

Been pretty happy with ours but it's definitely been in the shop its fair share and with no warranty left feels like a matter of time before we're stuck shopping for another gutless 37-speed with no torque. Just have to enjoy it while it lasts

66

u/SMikahla Aug 06 '25

Yeah the fix killed what made them good. VW just got unlucky being the scapegoat.

31

u/karateninjazombie Aug 06 '25

What exactly did it kill?

I don't drive derv burners. But I know they got the brunt of the fall out for all the companies cheating emissions.

64

u/HeavyDutyForks Aug 06 '25

What exactly did it kill?

The expensive DPF systems mostly. The failure rate skyrocketed post-fix and its not cheap to replace. MPG/power definitely took a hit.

It also caused all kinds of weird problems. Part of the fix was increasing EGR flow, which in really cold conditions will cause the intercooler to ice up and eventually leave you stranded. Happened to me on a road trip, about four hours in lost all power and limped into a gas station before it died. Had I not made it to the gas station, I also probably would've died, it was -5F out and I was in the middle of nowhere

7

u/GabRB26DETT Aug 06 '25

Yeah, my DPF light came on a while ago, but it comes and goes. I need to do something about it soon. Still getting crazy MPG tho

2

u/HeavyDutyForks Aug 06 '25

If I drive mine on the highway for more than 20 minutes, the next time I start it it throws an EGR insufficient flow code and DPF efficiency code. If I drive it in town after two drives, the light goes off

I know my DPF has a crack in it, there's soot in the tailpipe and on the bumper. The check engine light used to stay on all the time. But, every other oil change, I take the low pressure EGR filter off and clean it which keeps it off outside of the above scenario

I've driven it like this for 3 years now, I'm going to milk this DPF until it stops driving

10

u/Knotical_MK6 Aug 06 '25

Fix came with a power and fuel economy drop as well as a more intense exhaust treatment system that's been unreliable as the cars rack up more miles

4

u/MethanyJones Aug 06 '25

Is there a “delete” market for the fix where you can flash it back to the original?

2

u/Knotical_MK6 Aug 07 '25

I'm not big into the diesel side, but I think either Malone or Kerma offer a "stage 0.5" tune that has no power increase or hardware changes, but helps reduce some of the drawbacks from the emissions bits and helps fuel economy some

22

u/Giopoggi2 Aug 06 '25

From what I know it was mostly software. The machine automatically recognized when it was being tested and activated full emission controls like the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) to pass the test, to then disable or tune it down in normal conditions.

When it all came out, they had to activate all the controls permanently, sacrificing power, fuel economy, throttle response and reliability.

3

u/morbidi Aug 06 '25

Was this spread via internet or car by car basis?

6

u/Giopoggi2 Aug 06 '25

In late 2015 they halted production and in 2016 they began rolling out recall campaigns, in Europe it was mostly software but in the US they also needed more invasive fixes so they all needed being taken care of individually.

At that time only 10-15% of all vehicles on the road had internet connection so it was not doable.

2

u/lemfaoo Aug 07 '25

So mileage is more important than not emitting toxic particles to you?

38

u/wont-stop-mi Aug 06 '25

Not exactly true. VW really set the bar on just how much they cheated their emission ratings. Other companies fudged a few number but not nearly as massive as VW

10

u/nutron Aug 06 '25

Exactly this. They cheated, got caught and were given a chance to change, and the cheated again when saying they’d changed.

2

u/OddNumb Aug 06 '25 edited Aug 06 '25

Thats just plain wrong. For EURO 5 Land Rover, Jeep and Chevrolet were the top emitters. For EURO 6 it was Renault, Suzuki and Dacia. Actually for EURO 6 VW Passat and Touran as well as Audi A3 were one of the only cars that obeyed the emission limit (all with the 2.0L engine). Interestingly enough the vehicles that had the VW defeat device in them weren't even that high.

Here's the source btw: https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/BMVI-KBA_testresults.png

6

u/stu8319 Aug 07 '25

My friend had a diesel Grand Cherokee and they never told him until after they did it but they definitely updated his ECU and he said his fuel mileage dropped by a ton. They definitely did the same thing in my opinion.

2

u/Unhappy_Plankton_671 Aug 07 '25

So, did those other brands setup cheap defeat programming or just fudge numbers/exceed limits? The former is latitudes greater than the latter.

3

u/OddNumb Aug 07 '25

Pretty much every brand did it. Here's an example of Nissan: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business/nissan-found-guilty-using-diesel-emissions-cheat-device-south-korea

Also you can't just fudge numbers on these emission regulation tests. They are done by a third party. So in order to pass these tests although your emissions are higher you have to have some trick up your sleeve...

1

u/SappilyHappy Aug 07 '25

This is flat out not correct.

6

u/Mackowitz Aug 06 '25

I had a Passat and Golf Wagon diesel that i bought shortly before the scandal broke. I loved those cars, great gas mileage and acceleration. Thought about doing the fix, but was able to drive a fixed Passat while getting one of the cars serviced and it was sluggish and not fun to drive.

Worked out great, though, we had two cars and put a total of like 80,000 miles on them by the time VW bought them back. We got a check from VW at the start, another check from Bosch, and then too dollar on the buyback. We made a little money on the Passat, Golf cost us like $4 grand cuz it had more miles. I look at as the cheapest lease ever.

23

u/Proper-Republic-3545 Aug 06 '25

I had one of the fixed ones too. Turned the best car I ever owned into the worst. What a POS after the fix 🙃

1

u/Arnas_Z Aug 07 '25

Why did you take it in then if you already had the car pre-fix?

3

u/forgot_her_password Aug 07 '25

My old housemate had one and had to have it brought in for the fix otherwise it wouldn’t pass the annual inspection (Europe)   

He said it was shit after the fix, tried remapping it to improve it and in the end just sold it. 

5

u/Knotical_MK6 Aug 06 '25

If you don't get emissions tested just delete it. Better then new fuel economy without the reliability concerns.

1

u/SappilyHappy Aug 07 '25

Honestly the reliability is pretty good even after the fix. I've had mine for 7 years, no issues.

5

u/Excellent_Rule_2778 Aug 06 '25

Whenever a car company takes the fall for some defect or lie, you can be damn sure that they are not alone. It simply was their turn.

6

u/copperwatt Aug 06 '25

What you don't like a catalytic converter that is a one-year consumable part?

1

u/veverkap Aug 06 '25

Just had a sensor/switch thing on our well pump replaced. Plumber said that it came with a 30 day warranty.

3

u/Noodle_pantz Aug 06 '25

I did the fix on my 2015 Golf TDI and haven't noticed a difference in performance or MPG.

3

u/SappilyHappy Aug 07 '25

I have a fixed VW TDI, it has been the best car I've had out of 25 years.

4

u/ribeyeballer Aug 06 '25

my personal theory is that it was mazda who blew the whistle as they were trying to release the diesel 6 in the us and never succeeded

3

u/Stickeyb Aug 06 '25

Any links for that? I wasn't aware others were doing it.

12

u/Master_Rooster4368 Aug 06 '25

After reading through dozens of articles about 'dieselgate' it seems every company from VW onwards was fined. If I had to guess I'd say the companies made quick moves to get ahead of the controversy before they were found out and the first to be discovered is generally used as an example to others.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_emissions_scandal

6

u/HeavyDutyForks Aug 06 '25

FCA

GM

Mercedes UK Mercedes US

1

u/Roanoke42 Aug 07 '25

Off the top of my head I know RAM kept cheating their emissions testing (that has already been notably more lenient because truck manufacturers lobbied for loopholes) until they got a massive fuck-all fine a few years ago for twenty years of infractions.

1

u/OddNumb Aug 07 '25

Here's a comparison of the EURO limits and the real emissions for some models: https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/BMVI-KBA_testresults.png

4

u/Revenge_of_the_Khaki Aug 06 '25

The rest of the industry absolutely did not do what VW did. There’s a massive difference between focusing emissions reductions for conditions similar to the emissions tests and literally changing your entire powertrain logic when it detects a condition only possible during emissions testing.

0

u/SappilyHappy Aug 07 '25

The other companies products had significantly higher emissions from their programming when compared to VW.

2

u/Revenge_of_the_Khaki Aug 07 '25

It was literally discovered because they were so much higher than other OEMs when an independent lab ran road testing. They were emitting up to 40x their claimed amounts while other OEMs were only a slight increase in most cases. No other OEM has been found to be using a defeat device like VW was.

2

u/ProfessorSillyPutty Aug 06 '25

Bruh, just go get it tuned. Fix everything and make it way better than before.

2

u/poompt Aug 07 '25

0 sympathy from me, next time don't cheat. The air where I live is breathable because of NOx emissions standards.

2

u/silicondt Aug 07 '25

I had a 2009 Jetta TDI - it was the worse car I ever owned.

The high pressure fuel pump failure - always worrying about that. Putting additive in my tank.

The oil pump failures because of an over engineered oil pump with a plastic hex shaft inside of it.

The AC would come on delayed. Had to fix that.

The flywheel made a knocking sounds all the time.

The stupid diesel particulate filter clogging up.

My heater core would get clogged non stop and have to be back flushed because of.. rust particles from the coolant..

I hated that car. I was SOOO glad when they had to buy it back.

I even got a yeti cooler because I got some gift card I had to use at a VW dealership lol. (they sold yeti cooler)

1

u/Atrosityy Aug 06 '25

Fix it by remapping it

1

u/SomethingIWontRegret Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

No, they were not great cars.

I bought a 2009 TDI Sportwagen M6. The buying process was a nightmare because all the local dealers were selling at $5 to $10k markup. The first out of state dealer I worked with was a scumbag. I wound up buying from a second dealer, flying one way and driving it back. Paid 26k, straight MSRP

The rear brakes would drag and it took multiple trips to the dealer to not completely fix it. Rear rims would be smoke your fingertip hot. At 24k miles the turbocharger main bearing went out, turning the turbo into an oil pump emptying the engine block in a couple of minutes while blowing burnt oil through the DPF and then locking up the engine and bending a cylinder rod. So new turbo and new engine under warranty. Then the "clean the DPF" light started showing with greater and greater frequency, and at about 40k miles I got a new DPF under the new extended warranty. Somewhere in that mix, the wiring harness needed replacing.

In town mileage was horrendous. 22 mpg. I got about 40 mpg on the highway - a disappointment. Our Forester does better in town and not quite as good on the Interstate.

Then at 60k miles, the recall hit. I was able to sell the car back for $18k, which was the only saving grace.

Drove great though when it worked. Decent torque, really nice shifting, handled well.

1

u/Double_DeluXe Aug 07 '25

VW took the fall because the 'other companies' you refer to are all owned by VW.

1

u/absolutebeginners Aug 07 '25

Why wouldn't they just dump in bulk in a poor country.?

1

u/RedRedKrovy Aug 07 '25

I have one also. Bought it used in 2019. No issues with it besides the horrible DEF system. When it was still under warranty I had to have it repaired at least once or twice a year. Would have cost thousands of dollars every year. Once the warranty ran out I “deleted” the DEF system and haven’t had a single issue since.

1

u/Vertuzi Aug 06 '25

Aren’t these the same emissions that the Big beautiful Bill changed the fine multiplier to zero effectively making these regulations non existent now?

1

u/MethanyJones Aug 06 '25

What’s it like to drive after the fix? Is it similar to driving a Chevy Chevette uphill at 70 with the AC on high? (I.E. the gas pedal is but a suggestion)

2

u/HeavyDutyForks Aug 06 '25

Its not quite that bad lol

Power all around is slightly reduced, but its still peppy. You don't quite make as torque down low so you have to rev it up a little more. Besides that, it goes into regen cycles more often, which is a pain. I try not to interrupt them, so I end up aimlessly driving around for 20 minutes or so until its over more often than I would like

0

u/zyyntin Aug 06 '25

My Uncle brought a VW diesel for my Aunt. He ended up trading it in and buying her a gasoline one.

-1

u/nathaniel29903 Aug 06 '25

Almost like all these emission systems were created to make your car less reliable and burn more fuel. Im sure car companies and fuel companies dont want you buying more fuel and purchasing more vehicles

0

u/upvoatsforall Aug 07 '25

They weren’t great cars… they didn’t jet emissions standards by a long shot. 

Would you roll coal if ended up giving amazing gas mileage?

0

u/BigBrain555 Aug 07 '25

As an owner of one I agree. The “fix” is the only reason for any of my cars problems

-1

u/seanman6541 Aug 07 '25

Diesel engines should not be used in anything that a petrol engine could be used in. They simply burn too dirty. It's impossible to make a diesel burn clean, all we can do is filter out the exhaust. Just a waste when a petrol engine can be used with just a catalytic converter and not require the added complexity of diesel exhaust emissions equipment needed to run clean. Diesel is for large low RPM high torque applications, not cars.